


Disappearance

by truestarofthenorth



Series: Disney Ducks [4]
Category: Disney Duck Universe, Disney Ducks (Comics), DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Cousins, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Guilt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 09:36:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16595375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/truestarofthenorth/pseuds/truestarofthenorth
Summary: Fethry's habit of breaking the peace and quiet in every home he entered made him a force to be reckoned with. But while he did annoy his cousins, and uncle, they knew life without him would be dull.They just didn't expect it to happen like this.





	Disappearance

**Author's Note:**

> This is my fifth time trying to post this :) I'm going insane. It gives me an error EVERYTIME and it's so annoying!! 
> 
> I have another fic in the works for Fethry but it's a sadder one and I'm not sure how to finish it! I also have a small one in the works for QuackerJack, it's a holiday one! Hoping it'll be up soon!
> 
> This was supposed to be in my Ducktales fic set but it won't let me post it there so I'm going to try to give it it's own. It's a bit longer anyway. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Fethry's habit of breaking the peace and quiet in every home he entered made him a force to be reckoned with. But while he did annoy his cousins, and uncle, they knew life without him would be dull. 

They just didn't expect it to happen like this. 

Fethry was gone, missing, and it went unnoticed longer than any of them would ever admit. Donald was the first to notice. It had been longer than a week without Fethry popping by to bug him. 

But it was silent, aside from the boys. Donald felt concern bubble up. He walked through the ghostly empty home and called Gladstone first. 

"Gladstone, have you heard from Fethry?" Donald asked, before his lucky cousin could say a word. 

"I was just about to ask you the same thing." Gladstone said. "Have you called grandma?" He asked. 

"No, you were the first." He said, tangling his hand up in the phone cable. "I just noticed how silent the house was." He finally said. 

"Yeah." Gladstone said. "Me too." 

The line was quiet on both ends. "I'll call grandma. Can you see if you can get ahold of Abner?" Donald asked. 

"Yeah, sure." Gladstone said. He sounded worried. He never was great at hiding his concern for his family. Gladstone mumbled a very short goodbye and hung up. Donald was quick to call his grandmother. 

He paced a little, holding the cord tightly. His mind was racing, jumping from one horrible thing to another, that could possibly happen to his most helpless cousin. 

"Hello?" He heard Elvia's voice over the phone. "Grandma, have you heard from Fethry?" He asked immediately. 

Elvia paused. "Fethry? No, I haven't heard from him in a while. Is everything okay?" She asked, and Donald felt like he was going to break down. 

"We just....haven't heard from him lately. It's been quiet, you know?" Donald said. "I'm going to go see if he's home." He said. 

-

Donald called Scrooge on the way to Fethry's house. As he had expected, his uncle hadn't seen him either. 

He parked outside his cousin's house. It all felt wrong, like something bad was happening. He tried to calm himself down, tell himself it was all okay, everything was okay, Fethry was okay. 

Because that was what this all was, Donald was worried, no, terrified for his cousin. 

Donald knocked on the door, and waited. He waited a long time. And when almost 10 minutes had passed, Donald pulled out a spare key and unlocked the door. He peaked in and found it completely dark. 

He fumbled for the lights, clicking them on. The foyer and living room were empty. It looked like it had been empty for a while. 

Donald's heart dropped. He checked every room in the house, his cousin's bedroom last. He stood by the door for too long, hand on the doorknob, too scared to open it. 

After what felt like forever, Donald opened the door and peaked in. It was empty. He turned the light on and looked around, just hoping to find one thing to help him. There were a three tickets on his dresser, for last week. It was some ballet or something Fethry wanted to drag his cousins to. 

He picked them up, staring at them for too long. He had brushed off Fethry's invitation, telling him he was too busy. He wasn't busy, he didn't do anything that week! Why didn't he just go? 

Gladstone had texted him to tell him Abner hadn't heard from his brother either. Donald took a deep, deep breath, sitting on Fethry's bed. He was still holding the tickets tightly. There was a photo of them on the nightstand. 

It was a big family picture. Grandma wanted a photo of all of them. It was a lot, they even managed to get Moby to sit for a picture, a feat Grandma was proud of. 

Next to the family picture was a smaller frame, a picture Fethry took of the three of them. Donald picked it up, staring at it. He held it to his chest and laid down, balling up. 

This was all his fault, he always shoved Fethry away. He told him he was busy, he was sick, he was working, just to get him to leave him alone. Donald regretted every one of those moments. His cousin was missing, and he knew it was his fault. 

Donald always tried to keep himself in check, tried not to blow up in front of the kids, not to swear, not to cry. 

But right now he felt like doing all three. He was so angry, and so sad. He curled up tight, holding the picture to his chest, covering his eyes with his arm. He tried to tell himself not to cry, but that never helped. 

He spent a lot of time crying. Over money, over his kids, over his family. But this felt different, and it was terrifying. 

He was so caught up in his own fear and self-destructive thoughts he didn't hear the front door open, and close. What he did hear, was his name from the doorway. He shot up, eyes wide and wet. 

Fethry was in the doorway, looking very puzzled. Once he saw his cousin's tears, he was immediately by his side. 

"Donald, what's wrong??" He asked, wiping his tears with his sleeve. Donald didn't answer, but he did tackle his younger cousin, holding him so tightly. 

Fethry was at a loss, but hugged Donald back tight. 

"Donald, what are you doing here? What's wrong?" Fethry asked, lightly tapping his cousin's shoulder. 

"I was looking for you!" He cried, squeezing him tight. Fethry let out a small squeak. 

"You were gone! For over a week! None of us heard from you! We called everyone!" Donald said, pulling away from the hug. He held Fethry's shoulders. 

"Gone?" Fethry was confused again. He wasn't gone, he went to a few different cities for his work. Being a reporter, he was sent off all over to get good stories. 

"Donald," Fethry said. "I was out of town on work! I told you I would be gone." He said, smiling, but his smile faded at his cousin's face. He looked terrified. 

"I-I didn't mean to scare you guys." He said. He felt guilty, and why wouldn't he? It looked like his absence tore Donald apart. "I left a message on your answering machine. I tried to call you, but no one picked up I just figured you were busy." 

Donald visibility flinched at that. Busy. 

"I'm the worst cousin in the world." Donald said, covering his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Fethry. I'm...I'm never too busy for you." He said. 

"What do you mean?" Fethry asked, but Donald didn't answer, and instead stood up, grabbing his cousin's hand. "Let's go get Gladstone. I owe you a lot." He said. "Starting with new tickets to that ballet."


End file.
